WDL Partner Meeting “Production Process” Munich, Germany November 14-15, 2011 Jason Yasner

1. WDL Partner Meeting • “Production Process” • Munich, Germany • November 14-15, 2011 • Jason Yasner • WDL Operations Manager • jyas@loc.gov

2. Agenda Brief Overview of WDL Operations High-Level Production Workflow WDL Production Workflow Chart Overview of each Team Content Description Metadata Translation Development Accomplishments and Improvements in 2011 Next Priorities for WDL World Digital Library www.wdl.org

3. World Digital Library www.wdl.org • High-Level Production Workflow • Content Selection • Content Transfer • Content Processing • Cataloging (consistent metadata, descriptions) • Translation • Publishing

4. World Digital Library www.wdl.org

5. World Digital Library www.wdl.org WDL 2 Workflow

6. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Content Workflow: Transfer • Transfer to “landing zone” server • Malware & virus scans • “Bag & tag” • Inventory • Transfer to tape backup • Transfer to “work zone” server Content Workflow: Triage • Reconcile records & media • Cursory vetting for obvious problems • Missing media files • Missing data files/records • Corruption issues • Cataloging/Translation derivatives • Starter kit prep - item level tracking • Load to catalog or pre-translation

7. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Content Workflow: Object Building • Quality review • Media adjustments as needed (cropping, etc.) • Color management/sRGB conversion • Create master reference image • Object building • WDL directory structure • Add image header information • Handle registration • Reference image derivatives • PDFs Content Workflow: Validation • Run script that checks for missing parts & server permissions issues • Final media validation (JHOVE based tool) • Link items to dev team server area • Update inventory system

8. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Description Process • WDL Description team: • Professors, scholars, researchers, and other field experts • Editors • Description Coordinator • Partner Reviewers • Function: • To produce a summary that explains each item and highlights its significance • To illuminate the material in a way that is accurate, succinct, and engaging, working with information provided by partners, subject specialists, and other authoritative resources • Process: • Pre-description: determine and execute the appropriate course of action for the writing and editing processes, i.e.: • how to improve existing descriptions provided by partners • pinpoint the appropriate expert to write descriptions, if they are not provided • Writing: supplement pre-existing descriptions or produce original ones • Editing: substantive edit and copy-edit • Partner Review: evaluation of WDL-edited descriptions by partner institution • Finalizing: final approval before description is sent to Metadata team

9. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Metadata Process Original metadata creation • Edit English title, read and check the description • Find or verify names in VIAF • Verify publication date and language used in the material • Verify place names in TGN • Assign appropriate topics and additional subjects • Clean “Notes” and “Physical Description” fields • Add collection title if needed Metadata review • Review each field to make sure there are no errors • Verify the names, DDC, and subjects, etc. Batch metadata creation • Analyze metadata to develop strategy and workflow • Create metadata mapping and decide output format • Create or/and verify generic information, names, places, DDC, and subjects, etc. • Develop and create macros and scripts • Process metadata in batch using various tools • Final review of the metadata in Metadata Management App

10. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Translation and Language Management • Linguistic team • Three translation vendors who share our six languages (FR, ES, PT, AR, RU, ZH) • One reviewer per language • Translation process • Pre-translation when content is submitted to us in a language other than English • Translation into six languages, using translation management systems such as CAT tools • In-context review and quality control on our staging website • Related work • Terminology and style management (glossaries and style guides) • Query management (direct access to content writers and subject matter experts) • Feedback loop management between subject matter experts, translators and reviewers

11. Development Process World Digital Library www.wdl.org • Ongoing supportive role of entire production process • Ongoing maintenance and scaling of website • Building tools for content and metadata management • Troubleshooting

12. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Accomplishments and Improvements in 2011 • January 2011: 1,350 items online • Comprising 98,278 images • November 14, 2011: 4,049 items online • Comprising approx. 212,000 images • 200% increase since January 1, 2011 • End of 2011: Expected approx. 4,600 items online • Additional 600-700 items scheduled for release • Early 2012: Expected approx. 6,000 items online • Satisfy medium-term goal in WDL Business Plan • 344% increase since January 1, 2011

13. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Accomplishments and Improvements in 2011 • Staffing and Organization • Dedicated Operations Manager to oversee entire process • Dedicated leads for each of the five teams (Content, Description, Metadata, Translation, and Development) • New Metadata Management Application • Code-named “Cupcake” • Improved metadata creation and maintenance • Currently, also supports Translation and Quality Review processes • WDL 2 • Overhaul of code for better management and optimization • Into the cloud… • Better user experience worldwide • Continuous Process Improvement • Project Management, standards and best practices • Efficiency, reliability, and timeliness

14. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Next Priorities for WDL • Increase Partner Collaboration • Enable more Self-Service via online tools to: • Increase online content transfers • Track transfers with inventory integration • Improve content processing and validation • Allow Partner access and review of descriptions, metadata, and translations • Get more people in the process where needed • Improve Detailed Standards and Guidelines • http://project.wdl.org • Content guidelines (digitization, file-naming, object structure) • Metadata guidelines (mapping from MARC, MODS, Dublin Core) • Improve Integration with Authority Files • Metadata controlled vocabularies, authority files • Translation controlled vocabularies, authority files

15. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Next Priorities for WDL • Improve User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) • WDL 2 is a starting point • Richer user interface and experience • Full-Text Search (FTS) • Enhanced Web 2.0 Sharing features • Capacity Building • Continue support of digitization centers in Egypt, Uganda, and Iraq • Plan meetings and training workshops • First workshop scheduled in Doha, Qatar, in February 2012 • Continuous Process Improvement • Project Management, standards and best practices • Increase efficiency, predictability, reliability, and timeliness of production process

16. World Digital Library www.wdl.org Questions? • Jason Yasner • WDL Operations Manager • jyas@loc.gov